2014-01-20 Sunset Zoo

2014-01-19 Sunset Zoo

Rising Up to the Challenge of His Rival: an interview with local star Jake Lindsey

MMA wrestling is not something I've watched much of before going to see Jake "The Librarian" Lindsey fight. I had seen the TV bouts and reality shows out to make the next star and failed to see the appeal to it, although not being a sports fan might have had something to do with that as well. But as the fights went on and each round was announced by pictures of the fighters accompanied by flashing lights and the roar of the crowd, in some strange way I began to see the appeal of it. There was something about these matches that reckoned back to the gladiators of Rome, and I could barely help being swept up by it. Was I not entertained?

The Hulk is a Terrible Role Model

One of the things I love about working with kids is that they love super heroes as much as I do. Occasionally one of the kids will bring up their favorite super/team/villian and I can actually have a discussion about it with them, or reciprocate by telling them my own favorite super hero.

Varsity Donuts: Aggieville's Sweet Success Story

There have been a lot of “Varsitys” in Aggieville – a drug store, a theater, and even dances used this collegiate term in their names. So when Diane Meredith and David Sauter of Dusty Bookshelf, Thread, and Acme Gift, Kevin Peirce of Bluestem Bistro, and their friends and co-workers Jeremy Corn, Tanner Pieschl, and Leah Hyman set out to open a donut shop, they decided to name it Varsity because it captures the university spirit of Manhattan and is an homage to historic Aggieville businesses.

Sometimes We Laugh With Him

I was watching my roommate play Batman: Arkham Asylum recently when he reached a cut scene where Batman enters an elevator to go to the next area. The Joker (voiced by Mark Hamil) immediately starts mocking this obviously terrible choice as Batman is now confined to a metal box over which the Joker has control, causing him to declare, "What say I just blow the brakes and drop you like a sack of puppies!" Laughing out loud at this I commented on how horrible this analogy is, to which my roommate responded "Yeah... but you laughed." He has a point.

Tab Creations: Manhattan's Locally Raised Gaming Company

Manhattan is the origin place of Tab Creations, the creators of the Saga Machine table top role playing game. Tab Creations started years ago as a group of friends making comics, and in high school they started to create their own pen and paper RPG. Despite several of them moving away from Kansas they've continued creating and growing since then, with the Saga Machine system and its related settings being their most recent line of games.